hairstyles
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Data-mined photos document 100 years of (forced) smiling
Here's an odd fact: Turn-of-the-century photographers used to tell subjects to say "prunes" rather than "cheese," so that they would smile less. By studying nearly 38,000 high-school yearbook photos taken since 1905, UC Berkeley researchers have shown just how much smiling, fashion and hairstyles have changed over the years. The goal was not just to track trends, but figure out how to apply modern data-mining techniques and machine learning to a much older medium: photographs. Their research could advance deep-learning algorithms for dating historical photos and help historians study how social norms change over time.
Tamriel Infinium: The critical elements of Elder Scrolls Online character creation
When I think of The Elder Scrolls Online character creation or MMO character creation in general, my thoughts usually extend beyond the mechanical idea of what my avatar looks like. I'm usually contemplating motivation, history, and skillset as well. When I'm creating a pen and paper character, the actual appearance of the character is secondary to what the character could do or where he came from. Of course, I always end up drawing the character, but the art was born on the character sheet. MMOs, and frankly most RPGs, do character creation backward. They usually start with the appearance of the character when it should start with some sort of history or class. But there are some very important elements that every MMO character creation screen should have and still more that I'd like to see specifically in ESO.
The Elder Scrolls Online answers questions about character creation
Players have yet to really explore the character creation options available in The Elder Scrolls Online. How could they? The game isn't out yet. But when you release a trailer on character creation, people begin to speculate; when people begin to speculate, they start asking questions; when people start asking questions, the developers behind The Elder Scrolls Online generally take some time to answer some of those questions in a public forum. You see where this is going. According to this latest batch of answers, every race will have certain unique customization options in addition to sharing certain options with other races. How much is shared varies; Khajiit and Argonians obviously can't share hairstyles with humans, as the races are simply too different. There will also be more character options than were present in the original video, so those of you worried about the fact that the men could have beer bellies while the women could not will be appropriately mollified. For more details, peruse the full list of answers.
EQII Player Studio challenges players to end bad hair days
Back when Player Studio first introduced the idea of adding player-created items for sale in EverQuest II's cash shop, only housing items and cloaks could be submitted. However, players were promised that more items would be allowed in time. Well, break out your Blender, because that time is now! Fans with a creative streak can now submit personally designed hairstyles, weapons, and shields for consideration and possible inclusion in the game. Currently, hairstyles for only elves and humans can be submitted and must be shoulder-length or above. For weapons, various one- and two-handed stances are all possible, with the notable exception of caster staffs. Instructions, models, and samples are provided on the official site.
The Daily Grind: What hairstyle do you prefer?
Picking a hairstyle in an MMO seems simultaneously an intimate and futile choice. Futile in the sense of the second you wear a hat or helmet, your hair doesn't matter any longer (unless, of course, you disable the helm option). But I think that what you choose for your hairstyle may just be one of the most telling picks for your character's visual customization. Since many of us have remarkably dull hairdos, there's a temptation to go full-on exotic with the character creator. Maybe we want to just look cool, and pick whatever hits the spot in that regard. Maybe we want to be contrarian, and thus choose the most bizarre offering. Or maybe we want to express our emo, hipster, or middle-aged soccer mom sides with our hairstyles. Personally, I go for ponytails on my female characters. I pick this solely because the devs usually have to animate the hair, and I like my hair to move and bounce around. So what about you? What hairstyle do you prefer? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Perfect Ten: Character creation options nobody uses
There are two types of people in the world: those who can't get through the character creation menu fast enough to start playing "LordBladezz" and those who spend hours crafting the perfect face that will be seen by the player only 0.03% of the time. I've heard rumors of a species of middle-ground player, but I've yet to see one. I think there could be a doctoral thesis for someone willing to investigate which visual character creation options most of us use and which ones we ignore. My hunch is that most of us are looking to recreate an impeccable standard of beauty or handsomeness, resulting in game worlds exploding with Abercrombie & Fitch models. Because exploring the "most-used character creation options" isn't as much fun, today we're going to examine the 10 options that pretty much nobody uses. And yes, you'll feel compelled to comment that you do indeed use one of these and prove me wrong, so let me give you a gold star in advance for doing so. You're awesome.
Mists of Pandaria: New customizations for pandaren females
It's going to take me an hour to make my new female pandaren, because they now have additional earring choices and even more hair embellishments -- five earring options and eight neon highlight options. The highlights change position according to your chosen hairstyle. The hair and earring customizations are live in the MoP beta right now. Unfortunately, the button for the hair streaks has not been implemented yet, so currently you're given a random color when you create a character. To see all of the new highlight and earring options, head over to Wowhead News. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
What do you think deserves an update?
The story is always the same: I find a particularly intriguing piece of transmogrification gear, one that will totally make that midnight blue set I've been working on piecing together. And the piece is pretty easy to get, relatively speaking; it's a drop off of a boss in one of those old Burning Crusade-era heroics. Easy enough to solo at level 85, so it should be a snap to get, right? Well ... not quite. Because for some reason, all of these old heroics still have their old lockouts in place. Despite the fact that you really don't get anything of consequence from these dungeons and you haven't been able to for years, you still can't repeatedly head into these dungeons. Now I realize there is a five-dungeon-per-hour limit to keep people from excessively farming, and I get that. I really do. But when you introduce a game feature that encourages farming old content, it seems silly that you not only have to cross your fingers that the item drops, but you can only attempt to get it once a day. And really? That's not the only thing that could use an update in today's World of Warcraft.
Patch 4.2 PTR: New haircuts
New hairstyles for many races have appeared on the 4.2 PTR, and they're looking really nice! This thread over at MMO-Champion gleans the first batch, but there are more if you look. I think this is the first time we're seeing hairstyles with more attitude, rather than what would be more culturally appropriate for each race. There are sure to be more in the upcoming weeks, while some races haven't received any at all. Tauren females, for example, have a few new horn styles, but nothing for a new do. While not all of the new hairstyles are available in the PTR barber shop, most of them are, so I would suggest having some fun and seeing what looks good! It only costs a couple of gold, and you don't even have to wait for it to grow back! %Gallery-123654% The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!
Vindictus welcomes back vets with Lucky Leaf update
It doesn't seem all that long ago that Nexon's Vindictus officially launched in North America. The free-to-play hack-and-slash game opened its doors on October 27th, but judging by a new Nexon promotion, four months is time enough for players to leave (and return) to the title. Vindictus' version 1.22 update is titled Lucky Leaf and features a bevy of new cash shop items related to avatar customization (specifically facial tatoos and new hairstyles). The game's official website also notes a couple of bug fixes relating to storage chests and graphics optimization. Finally, the game's Returning Veteran Event will run from March 2nd through March 22nd and feature a 50% XP bonus for recently returned mercenaries (and their partymates), as well as gift packages containing potions, platinum tokens, XP capsules, and a storage chest coupon.
New hairstyles for dwarf women from Cataclysm beta
As a longtime fan of dwarf women, I got a bit of a shock when I logged on to the Cataclysm beta this evening and discovered my shaman's neat and tidy bun had morphed into an extroverted anime style! Obviously she's been visiting the stylist without my knowledge, but a quick trip to the Stormwind barber revealed a total of four possible new hairstyles for dwarf women. Who would have thought we'd be such trendsetters? Now, the textures for a few of them do look a little funky, and some of them look like several styles combined, so the usual this is beta and it is possibly a bug caveats apply here. In spite of that, I feel optimistic and look forward to the possibility of new hairstyles for the other races. So far, tauren are still woefully under-served when it comes to choice, and the gnomes and elves of beta are sticking to tried and tested styles. As for the men? We'll be adding new styles to the gallery as we find them. %Gallery-106691% World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
The Queue: Legendary heavy glow
Welcome back to The Queue, our daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I saw Gorillaz last night at Madison Square Garden. 'Nuff said. Masalar asked: Do the profession changes, such as multiple skill ups for making a blue item, come into play with 4.0.1? Because my hunter is waiting for that change to become an engineer ... Yes, those count as system changes, so they should be in with 4.0.1.
Asheron's Call introduces new playable race and more
Asheron's Call fans have lots of new features to enjoy, as Turbine just announced the addition of a new playable race, barbers and hairstyles, a new type of magic, and some great armor upgrades to the game. Players can now choose to play as a Shadow among the people of Dereth, an addition that Asheron's Call has been hinting at since the beginning of April. If you're interested in the story behind this new race, you'll love Shedding Skin, so take a look and then check out the new race first-hand. Another exciting addition to Asheron's Call is the addition of Aetheria, a powerful new kind of magic unlocked by the Archmages of the Arcanum. It's not just a matter of unlocking a few skills and moving along, however. Take a look at the story behind Aetheria for the details on how to acquire this new magic. The update brings multi-slot armor as well. The blacksmiths of Dereth have been hard at work improving their craft, and they think you'll like what they have to offer. They're not all utilitarian updates, however -- the Asheron's Call team added some fun and frivolity to the game as well. Feel like your character needs a fresh new look for spring? Visit a barber (they're located near tailors), and for the right price they'll offer a variety of hairstyles and new looks. Take a look at all the new additions, and enjoy!
Video shows CCP's incredible cloth and hair simulation
We've known for some time that CCP planned to use physics simulation to make the clothes in EVE Online's Incarna expansion and their upcoming World of Darkness MMO more realistic. They even gave a talk on using NVidia's APEX cloth simulation at the 2010 Game Developer's Conference. Until now, all we've seen are technical details and the occasional screenshot, which makes it hard to work out how the end product will look. NVidia have released a new video this week of CCP's cloth simulation in action, giving those of us that are interested a sneak peak at the incredibly impressive results. Although APEX cloth simulation will be introduced to EVE when Incarna is released, the video looks much more like something out of World of Darkness. As an added bonus, the system seems to simulate realistic hair and not just clothes. Hair in most MMOs has always been limited to shorter styles which would look alright without animation. The ability to simulate complex clothes and long hair styles make character customisation in World of Darkness and EVE's Incarna expansion look very promising. Skip past the cut to watch the video in HD. [Thanks for the tip, Patrick!]
Breakfast Topic: A trip to the stylist, part two
Yesterday's Breakfast Topic was revealing. Revealing in that I revealed that I watch Project Runway. You guys said some stuff, too, I think? I'll have to go back and look. Ah, yep. Okay. You guys hate the Goku haircut as much as I do. It's probably the worst one in the game. But hey, we're not here today to decry current hairstyles. Our trip to the stylist today is all about what we'd like to see added instead of removed. I commented yesterday on the sheer number of awesome hipster haircuts that female goblins are getting, and that's what I want. I want more modern haircuts for all of the races, especially the girls. I think I count three bobs for blood elf females alone! Give 'em an awesome Rock Band-style pixie cut. Give troll females a few haircuts that don't make them look like Bugs Bunny antagonists. Let my night elf male be Morrissey. Let human males have a haircut that doesn't make them look like a member of the Village People (or Fabio). Give tauren females ... I don't even know what. Something. What do you guys want to see added to the game in terms of hairstyles? Any cuts you can't live without?
Breakfast Topic: A trip to the stylist, part one
Full disclosure here: The main thing that makes me want to play a particular race is their choice in hairstyles. Especially the females. Sometimes when I go to Stormwind and enter the barber shop I say, out loud, "All right, designers, let's send our models to the L'Oreal Paris hair salon! Make it work!" Okay, that last part isn't entirely accurate. Or is it? Anyway, yeah. Hairstyles are important to me, which is why I'm simultaneously happy and a bit miffed about the new styles in Wrath, a lot of which were just copy-paste jobs from other races. Night elf females still have a grand total of two good haircuts and human males can, joy of joys, be Goku now. So my question to you, dear readers, the first in a series, is this: What are your favorite and least favorite hairstyles in the game? When you see a human male with the Goku haircut or the foxtail, do you want to kill a man? For female troll players, you don't even need to answer. I mean, you have what, two hairstyles anyway? Neither of them any good? Maybe next expansion. Addendum: And just why do goblin females get all the good hipster haircuts, Blizzard? They can be Tegan or Sara. I can't even be the girl from La Roux.
Ask a Beta Tester: The mystery of Crystalsong and other things
I showed you the Alliance airship on yesterday's Ask a Beta Tester, now you get to see the Horde version! And now that that's out of the way, let's start with a couple of questions from Aerei... I've got possibly the most important question ever asked in this column! Are we going to see NPCs rocking the new hairstyles now available? I don't think it's fair only PCs should get them. Yep! You'll spot the new hairstyles on NPCs here and there. Not super often yet, but you definitely see them. A lot of the guards in the Argent Crusade camp are rockin' the new styles. They're very progressive! Also, if Dalaran gets mage trainers because it's the mage city, how come Shattrath doesn't have paladin trainers? Huh? Because Shattrath sucks.
Paid character customization on the horizon
I was one of those people who got really excited about the idea of changeable hairstyles way back when they were first announced. Ever since then I've been daydreaming about how I would get to modify my character's appearance, albeit in a limited way: Blizzard seemed to think that faces and skin colors should be unchangeable -- otherwise the Barber Shop would feel too much like a Plastic Surgeon.But now, it looks like one day there will be nothing we can't change about our characters except their race and class (and gender). In a small BlizzCon '08 press conference about WoW and Diablo 3, Production Director J. Allen Brack (whom we interviewed recently), mentioned that one day even the skin and face of your characters would be customizable through some sort of paid change, akin to changing your character's name, perhaps. They haven't worked out any details yet, but it certainly does look promising.I have no idea why they'd charge real money for it, or how much it would cost, but as long as it's not too expensive (around $5 dollars maybe?) I think it's something I'd go for. I'd like to change my draenei hunter's skin color and facial expression, even though what I have now is already nice enough. Sometimes it's just nice to have a change every now and then. What about you? Is it the sort of thing you'd pay real money for? How much would be too much?[via G4TV, and reader Anthony with the tip]
Patch 3.0.2: Echoes of Doom
From the North, a cold wind blows, and brings with it Echoes of Doom. A king is ready, after all these years, to return to his people...Blizzard has named the last content patch before Wrath of the Lich King -- it's "Echoes of Doom." They've created a page for patch 3.0.2 in their Under Development section, and all of the features we've become familiar with over the past few months -- from Inscription to two new Arenas (no mention yet of the new battleground, unless they just meant Wintergrasp) and lots of UI modifications -- are listed right there as ready to go in with the new patch.The page still seems like a placeholder, though, so expect to see it changed over the next two weeks or so -- we'll see more detailed patch notes, of course, near release, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some information about the World Event that will likely kick off Wrath. "Echoes of Doom" -- are you excited?Update: WoW Insider has obtained this exclusive video of what the new patch may be like.
Player-created hairstyles look pretty snazzy
The Blizzard-created hairstyles revealed from a while back didn't really impress too much -- while almost everyone will certainly be trying the barbershop in the expansion, no one I know is running there just to put a certain haircut on. But Kxara has set out with some texture design and a model maker to change all that -- she's come up with some of her own hairstyles, and they look really great.Some of them are just jokes from real-life hairstyles (the Duke is really funny, and I like the dastardly Blood Elf mustache, too), but some of them really pull off the characters in a way we haven't seen before. There no afro, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), and Kxara says that's because of the low polygon count on the characters -- either they'd have to go with high polygons and wreck low-end machines, or go low polygons, and it would look bad for everyone.With barbershops in the game, Blizzard's starting haircuts are probably not the last we'll see (and maybe someday we'll even have faction or question haircuts), but these specs put together by Kxara are a good place to start if they decide to add more.[via Resto4Life]
